X-Men Spin-off Gambit Gets Lizzy Caplan as the Female Lead

Channing Tatum's long-gestating Gambit movie continues to pick up steam. After seemingly being pulled from Fox's plans for the future of the X-Men universe entirely, Gambit has been putting the pieces of the puzzle in place and now it's just taken another major step forward. According to a new report, Masters of Sex star Lizzy Caplan has been tapped to play the female lead in Gambit, alongside Channing Tatum, who pretty much willed this movie into existence a few years ago.

Lizzy Caplan hasn't signed on the dotted line yet, but she's in talks to star in Gambit and, unless something crazy happens, it sounds like she's got the part. As for who she's playing? No official details on her role have yet been revealed, but X-Men fans will note Remy LeBeau's long-standing relationship with Rogue. Anna Paquin has portrayed the character up to this point in the X-Men movies, but since the timeline is a total mess, they're likely to recast the role for Gambit, assuming she's to appear in the movie. Rogue would make sense for a female lead in this movie, so that's a strong possibility.

As it happens, Lizzy Caplan isn't a total stranger to the superhero genre. Though it was a very small role, she appeared in a Marvel One-Shot that takes place after The Avengers called Item 47. Beyond that, she's best known for her role in the show Masters of Sex, as well as her roles in movies like Cloverfield, The Interview and 127 Hours. She's also appearing in The Disaster Artists, which looks to be an awards season contender this year. But a role in an X-Men movie, especially if she is playing a character as popular as Rogue, would certainly be a big bump to her career.

Official plot details for Gambit are being kept under wraps, but it's rumored that it will be a heist movie, in the vein of Ocean's 11, expect with mutants in it. It's also been rumored that fan-favorite Mister Sinister could be the villain and that Daniel Craig has been in talks. Mister Sinister is also rumored to be in Deadpool 2. That doesn't mean he can't appear in both movies, but it seems unlikely that he would. We'll likely be learning more in the not-too-distant future, as Fox has dated the Gambit movie for release on February 14, 2019.

Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski was recently hired to direct Gambit, after directors like Doug Liman and Rupert Wyatt both spent time attached to the project at various points. Liman was the most recent director attached to the project, but he left in order to direct Chaos Walking, which stars Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland. Variety's report notes that Fox has yet to comment on the potential casting of Lizzy Caplan in Gambit just yet. We'll be sure to keep you up to date as more details on the project are made available.